


Crabapples

by wasatch_97 (orphan_account)



Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Confessions, Crushes, M/M, Mark and Johnny are Brothers, Star Trek - Freeform, Star Wars - Freeform, crabapples, it's in nyc, mark is relatable, mark x the janitor lmfao, markhyuck, nomin, playgrounds on roofs
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-13
Updated: 2019-05-13
Packaged: 2020-03-02 18:45:34
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,310
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18816826
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/wasatch_97
Summary: Maybe apples shouldn't be used as projectiles.





	Crabapples

It wasn’t that Mark had been a bad kid- he just liked a certain boy, Donghyuck, maybe a little more than he should’ve. 

It started in elementary school, Mark was nine and pretty popular in the school while Donghyuck was eight, a year below him and almost painfully withdrawn from his peers, sticking only to a few friends. Yet Mark was infatuated, as much as a nine year old could be, looking for every chance he could take to get closer to that pretty boy with big eyes and shy smile. 

And then the opportunity presented itself, and maybe it wasn’t the best idea, but Mark’s brain couldn’t quite compute rights and wrongs when it came to Donghyuck. The kids were all at recess and Mark was perched on top of one of the cement blocks in the corner of their playground, chain fence digging into his back, the busy streets of New York City stories below him. 

“Hey Mark, it’s the boys,” his friend, Jeno said, shoving him a bit from where he was sitting next to his Mark. Mark glanced up, seeing that Donghyuck was indeed passing by with one of his close friends, Jaemin. 

“Oh,” Mark grinned, shoving his hands into the pockets of his pants and withdrawing crabapples, Jeno doing the same, and they started pelting the unsuspecting boys with the fruit. 

Needless to say, maybe throwing his affection hadn’t been the best plan, because the two abused boys ran over and all Mark could see were Jeno’s wide eyes before Donghyuck grabbed the front of Mark’s sweater and slammed him into the ground, head bouncing painfully off of the cement. 

As he concluded afterwards, holding an ice pack to the giant bruise growing on his forehead, Jeno doing the same as they sat in the principal’s office with their parents, it really hadn’t been a good idea. 

Mark could never look at crabapples the same way. 

***

Middle school flew by and then the torture of high school started. Somewhere along the way Mark had fallen out of popularity, deciding instead to stick to studying. 

But that pretty Donghyuck Lee had gotten into the popular crowd, and years later, Mark still nursed a crush for the boy that he had once thrown fruit at. Funny how things went. 

Mark always kept himself busy, shoving his puppy crush to the back of his mind instead of waxing poetry about Donghyuck’s eyes or his really really pretty moles (that was Jeno’s job, Jaemin affected him just as much as Donghyuck did Mark). 

Junior year and Mark’s best friend besides Jeno was the janitor Charlie. Mark would stay after school and help the man clean up the classrooms, finding that indeed the stereotypical janitor’s closet was a nice place to hang out to get away from the world (or, in his case, Donghyuck’s really pretty laugh at lunchtime in the cafeteria that made him all to weak at the knees. Jeno called him whipped for the sophomore, but Jeno had his own issues with his own underclassman and wasn’t one to critique Mark on his troubles with Cupid). 

It wasn’t until one day in early winter that Mark interacted with Donghyuck for the first time in years. He was sitting on the floor in the janitor’s closet, flipping idly through the pages of a book propped up on his knees, eating grapes out of his Darth Vader lunchbox (his mother never gave him the money to buy him a new one after he graduated middle school, instead calling him a freeloader but fondly ruffling his hair afterwards while Johnny looked on, snickering, and tucking his own plain blue lunchbox into the pantry. Stupid older brothers and stupid lunchboxes). 

It was cold in the school, particularly in the secluded rooms (or closets) so Mark was shifting around, trying to put on his winter coat, balancing the book on his thighs and praying in didn’t flip shut, but his luck gave out when one of his arms got caught behind his back, the coat wrapped around him in a suffocating way. 

A minute passed of Mark trying to free his arm. 

Nothing. 

“Damn,” he whispered, his arm beginning to fall asleep, head twisted at an awkward angle. 

Then the door opened and Mark glanced up, only to see the one and only Donghyuck staring down at him with wide eyes as the door swung shut behind him. 

Mark internally groaned, feeling heat rise in his cheeks. 

Donghyuck just stared at him, seemingly emotionless, before sitting down in front of Mark, a smirk growing on his face. 

Mark stared back, really not amused. 

“Need some help?” 

Mark glared. 

Donghyuck grinned. 

Mark struggled at bit, arm still stuck. 

“Fine.” 

“I don’t know if I want to help you if you’re gonna talk to me like that,” Donghyuck hummed, and Mark wanted to die. Or kill everyone and then himself. 

“Please?” He hated that he was near begging, but his arm did hurt. 

Donghyuck smiled, and Mark _really_ hated how his blush deepened. 

After a little maneuvering Donghyuck finally pulled the coat off of Mark, the older boy caught between internally crying or squealing, ‘cause damn Donghyuck Lee was touching his shoulder and he was awful glad he didn’t wear that _Star Trek_ shirt with phrases written in Klingon on it. 

“So,” Donghyuck said once they were both seated again, Mark’s jacket placed to the side because with Donghyuck Lee in the room (closet) he was far from cold. Somehow he had managed to not lose his place in his book, to which he was ever thankful. “You threw crabapples at Jaemin and I in elementary.” 

Mark numbly nodded. “Yeah. Not one of my proudest moments, sorry.” 

Donghyuck just chuckled, waving a hand as if to dismiss the apology. “It’s okay. It was revenge enough just to see your bruised ass face when they called you into the principal’s office.” 

“Thanks,” Mark sniped, popping a grape into his mouth. 

“You literally _threw apples at me_ ,” Donghyuck rolled his eyes. “I didn’t realize you have a pissy attitude.” 

“It’s not- I mean,” he groaned, passing a hand over his face. “I’ve fucking liked you since elementary, that’s why I threw the apples, I wanted to get your attention. It was a shitty thing to do but here we are. I’m sorry, Donghyuck.” 

Donghyuck stared blankly at him. “I know.” 

“What?” 

“You’re not fucking subtle, Mark, and you’re also incredibly dense. Why do you think I always smile at you and always try to find a way to be around you? It’s awful fucking hard to be noticed by my crush when we’re a year apart, don’t share the same classes, and you’re always holed up in this fricking closet.” 

“You- what?” 

Donghyuck shrugged, cheeks tinted pink. “I forgave you a long time ago for throwing those apples. I fell for you not long after. That’s my story.” 

Mark couldn’t help the grin that spread over his face. “So you apologize for bouncing my head off of the concrete?” 

“Hell no,” Donghyuck snorted, “you and Jeno both deserved that.” 

“Fair,” Mark shrugged, “but it was worth a shot.” 

Donghyuck shook his head, smiling. “You know that place that sells the papaya juice?” Mark nodded. “Let’s go there after school. If you want to, that is.” 

“I would love to,” Mark grinned. 

The bell sounded, signifying the end of lunch period. “I have to go,” Donghyuck sighed, standing up. “Jaemin was supposed to confess to Jeno, the bitch has been moaning about unrequited love and shit for years and I wanna see how that went.” 

“I don’t think it’s unrequited,” Mark chuckled, Donghyuck smiling in return. 

“I need to leave, but where’s your _Star Trek_ shirt? I like that one,” Donghyuck asked, looking Mark up and down. 

And damn. Was Donghyuck a Trekkie? 

Mark was in _love._


End file.
